


Battle of the Jade Palace AU (one shot)

by C_M_H_Snoozie



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24727387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_M_H_Snoozie/pseuds/C_M_H_Snoozie
Summary: Just at the tail end of the battle of the Jade Palace in the first Kung Fu Panda film. Tai Lung confronts Shifu and both deal with the consequences of their actions.
Relationships: Shifu & Tai Lung
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	Battle of the Jade Palace AU (one shot)

Shifu felt himself roll hard against the floor, his head throbbing from the strikes and the rest of his body burning in pain, he could not keep fighting, he did not have the strength nor maybe the will to do so any longer. Tai Lung was still approaching, he could probably sense his victory even through his rage. He had to face him, look him in the eye and tell him the truth. He managed to force his aching arm to prop himself up, noticing he was next to the edge of the Moon Pool, back where he had set such a destiny into motion. His breath short and his strength failing, Shifu got out the words he needed to tell his _son._ "I have always been proud of you. From the first moment, I've been proud of you." He confessed sadly and let his gaze land upon the snow leopard, his pride and joy and his biggest mistake. Oh, how he had failed his son. "And it was my pride, that blinded me, I loved you too much to see what you were becoming." No, that was not fair, not enough, now of all the chances he had left it was time to be honest with himself too. "What _I_ was turning you into." He looked over the man he had failed, the abandoned child who much like himself grew up with Kung Fu as his purpose. "I'm... I'm sorry." 

For a moment, Shifu thought he saw the glimmer of the son that had once loved him, the shortest spark of recognition that for all he had done to him, he had only meant the best and still failed. Shifu still loved him, he always had and always would do and _that_ was Shifu's weakness to be used against him. Shifu would not kill his son and Tai Lung understood that in that moment. The leopard's anger swirled again as he thought that a mere apology was all he was going to get from the man that had forced him to walk the path of his destiny and just when he needed him to offer his own strength and support, he had turned his back and done nothing to show Oogway otherwise. It was not good enough. With a guttural growl, Tai Lung threw his paw around Shifu's throat and lifted him into the air. "I don't want your apology, I want my scroll! **"** His eyes shifted from the small form of his former Master and towards the statue high above them only to see that the scroll was gone. "What?" All of his life he had been working to get that scroll, the secret to unlimited power that he _deserved_ and spent twenty years rotting in a jail for his attempt to claim what had rightfully been his all along and now, it was _gone._ "Where is it?!" Rage burned through him all over again and he slammed Shifu to the ground and tightened his hold on his throat, relishing the feel of him struggling under his grip and the way Shifu's hands raked at him to try and helplessly free himself. Tai Lung released his claws and landed several more aimed and vicious punches with such ease, right down onto Shifu's head, catching his eye, his ribs, legs, wildly tearing at each. He wanted to break his bones and make him bleed just as he had trained him to do. The punches stopped when Shifu's head fell backwards far enough that his throat was all too easy to squeeze and Tai Lung tuned all of his attention and energy to that!

"No." Shifu tried breathlessly to discourage Tai Lung from just strangling him to death, he was exhausted and he felt weak and broken from their duel. He had been all too willing to die for the innocent citizens of the Valley, to pay for his mistake in training Tai Lung as he had, but that did not mean he was to go like that. Tai Lung's rage made him blind, would he recover if he killed him? He had to fight to protect him once more. He could not fail Oogway either, not again. He mustered what strength he had and used his leg to kick Tai Lung's elbow to bring him down towards a cruel and quickly calculated blow to the head. For a moment, Tai Lung was fooled and his hold on Shifu's throat weakened just enough for him to wiggle free of it, land one last powerful kick to Tai Lung's stomach and use it to propel himself to the other side of the Moon Pool. Winded and enraged, Tai Lung protected his aching stomach and checked on where Shifu was, the old red panda clearly too exhausted and broken to fight any more, grasping at his own throat to try and soothe what was no doubt a painful bruise while he lay on his side on the cold floor. The leopard didn't bother to chase after him, he had already won, Shifu was not going anywhere and for his obvious injuries he looked as if he would die that night whether Tai Lung struck him again or not. Shifu seemed to have understood as such too as he looked over the pool to the other, deeply saddened and wishing he had the strength to at least calm Tai Lung down, but it was a rage he knew had been brewing for twenty years since that fateful night.

"I will find it, I will find the pretender and take it from him." Tai Lung vowed as he managed to get his own breath back, his paws in curled fists while he looked over the pool at Shifu, trying to gauge his reaction but all he seemed to get back was a look of sadness. He snarled angrily again and pointed one of his claws at him, "You failed. Again." He roared, echoes of his voice bouncing back off the broken pillars of the palace. "That is to be your legacy, Shifu." The name spat out like a poison, he hated him. Before returning he had even hoped to reconcile with his father, to greet him and take on the supposed Dragon Warrior in honest combat and prove that he was the _real_ Dragon Warrior but once more Shifu had denied him the chance, fearful of just how powerful he clearly was and taken his prize away from him. He felt just how tight his chest was with his own upset, the feeling of betrayal that Shifu either did not truly believe in him or was too afraid of what he might do to him, his breath became heavy again as a cold sadness seeped in and threatened his eyes with tears. "The Second and the Last Grandmaster of the Jade Palace. A Failure." His voice cracked just at the end while he reigned himself back in and watched Shifu, willing him to just perish so he could go and begin his hunt for the scroll... but he could not just leave him there to die alone either and it made him both angry at himself and so very confused. 

Shifu stopped trying to soothe his throat and let his arm rest on the floor. He could no longer open his left eye, one of his ears were bent and broken while the other had a chunk missing from it. He coughed and only bothered to check on what Tai Lung was doing when that crack in his voice appeared, those words had hurt at the thought of failing Oogway and his own new duties so completely that the thousand scrolls would be lost under his charge, but his worry for that was replaced for the upset in Tai Lung's voice, he thought it might have been regret. Even then, after everything his heart ached at his son's upset. He did not want pain for him, he wished that he had seen the darkness he had encouraged much sooner so he could have spared him, imagining the warrior he could have become had been mindful of his pride. "I-" Oh, he barely had a voice left in him, he heaved in a strained breath and forced himself to speak with a hoarse sound and a pained wheeze, "I believed in you." He drew in another breath and tried again to look Tai Lung in the eye. "I believed you were destined to become a great warrior." He truly had, he had been his best student and for all the love he had poured into raising him, trying to do better than his own father had done only to fall so very short. "You _are_ a great warrior." He corrected, his torn ear twitching for the sound of a slight breeze through the hall, stirring the peach petals in the Moon Pool. He let his head rest on the floor properly while his eye watched the petals swirl for a brief moment of peace, Tai Lung's blurred shape not moving on the other side. "I lead you down the wrong path and made-" He coughed again but quickly settled himself, "-made you lose your way, but that does not mean you are completely lost." He had obviously not taught him the right lessons, put too much on his shoulders and filled his head with dreams beyond his reach, but he did distinctly remember teaching him other things. "You protected the citizens of the Valley more than once in the past, you could so easily be the greatest protector there has ever been." Granted he would not be able to stay in the Valley of Peace for his past atrocities, but there were other places he could do good. "You do not need the scroll. What would you use it for?"

Tai Lung found himself frowning at the suggestion of him becoming a guardian to others rather than the question posed. He had done all of that already, against Crocodiles, Gorillas, Wolves he had paid his dues and it was _his_ reward that had been taken from him! He knew he had lost sight of that before, more than once he had rolled his eyes behind Shifu's back when he had sent him to the aid of villagers, thinking such tasks beneath him. After his attack on the Valley, it was not a life he would ever be able to return to anyway. His shoulders fell just a fraction as the question sank in, what exactly would he even do with the knowledge of the Dragon Scroll? He could fight and prove himself the very best of all the Kung Fu masters, but if he had the scroll would it even matter? He did not want to have to control his own kingdom, such things did not interest him having witnessed the sort of expectations such a position held. Being the very best was all he had ever wanted and that of course was the fault of Shifu, "I wanted to be the best, I wanted you to be proud, your best student." He confessed, surprising even himself for his more docile tone. How silly it all seemed now, meaningless for what he had done to the man he had tried so hard in all he had ever done to make proud, when apparently he had been all along.

Shifu gave out a short lived chuckle, not maliciously but seemingly kindly for a change despite his struggling form. "You have always been my best student." Tai Lung held a natural talent that had been so promising that Shifu began believing in destiny. "When I found you, I only meant to raise you as best I could. I did not adopt you with the expec..." He grimaced and protected his middle without thought, curling his tail in on himself while his ears lay flat against his head as he gave up trying to look at his son, he forced himself on regardless. "Not with the expectation to train you as I did. As you grew and showed talent however, I thought more about the legend of the scroll and thought that your sad beginning was destiny setting you down in the right place. I believed you were the Dragon Warrior." Why else would fate have landed him at their door? For Shifu, highly regarded as he was as a teacher, to train a lost and talented leopard cub into a worthy warrior where the Dragon Scroll itself was protected? Who could question that except for the author of the scroll? "You never needed the scroll to make me proud." He doubted it meant much to say so in that moment, he hoped Tai Lung had many years left in him yet though and at least in the years to come, he might have some closure with those words. With his eyes closed and his own laboured breaths drowning out any other noise around him, he had no way of knowing if Tai Lung was still even there or if he had heard enough and had left him. "I loved you and despite everything, I still do." He practically whispered into the end of his tail while he felt his remaining strength fail him. He was glad the villagers were safe, that Po had the scroll and his father back while The Five could continue on their own journeys, he hoped all together for they were strongest as a team. He was sorry to Oogway for failing him, for not understanding the message of the dragon scroll and for ever doubting him in the first place, perhaps Po might have learned sooner with the grandmaster's guidance on the meaning if he had committed to train him from day one. They at least had a chance now and he hoped, more than anything that he had managed to get through to Tai Lung that he could do more, better and redeem himself if he just tried, maybe they would _all_ be spared.

He felt himself fading, the calm wash of acceptance as the pain started to fade was a welcomed relief. He had accepted death when he had sent his students away, payment for his mistake that had cost so many others so very much. He thought of Tigress and how proud he was of her but how careful he had been not to show it, he should had said it just the once, she was like a daughter to him too, he hoped he had done right by her and that she would forgive him for his cold blunders. His ears turned ever so slowly to the softest sound of a footstep close to his head and the shake of the stone he lay on as a body settled beside him, a large, rough but warm paw shifted under his cheek so to cradle his head. Shifu did not have the strength left to shift his head away even if he wanted to, the lure of peace close enough that it felt it would be as easy as falling asleep. He wanted to move his arm, to reach out and give any attempt at thanks, comfort or maybe even just one last acknowledgement that he still thought of Tai Lung as his son and how sorry he was for failing him, but he could not feel anything beyond the comfort of the hold of his head and the warmth that brought against the cold he was suffering.

"I came back expecting the chance to prove myself worthy." Tai Lung explained as he watched Shifu, not sure if he could still hear him until there was the slow move of his large ear closest to him, proof enough he thought. "I knew there would be a fight but I did not mean for it to be with you." He had been so very angry so betrayed even looking back on it now he knew it was inevitable that he would eventually end up fighting with Shifu again. "I spent _twenty years_ thinking of my return and how to do it, at first it was like this, I was going to come back, fight both you and Oogway and take the scroll by force. The longer I was there though, the more I thought about returning to the comforts and freedoms I had known, I just wanted to come home. I knew you believed in me even if you had me locked away as you did." That had been its own betrayal but of course he understood by that point that it had been more of a justice thing than an insult, it still had not made it any easier to think his own father had not put up a fight to keep him out of such a place. His rage had not mellowed but as the years passed, homesickness had seeped in on top of his ambitions to retrieve the scroll. So often he would picture Shifu's proud smile and words in his mind's eye while the rhinos taunted him, it had helped but had only intensified his anger for the betrayal and the homesickness all the more afterwards. "I _hate_ you." He snarled again and felt himself lose the battle with tears as his eyes watered up and blurred his vision, "But I also love you, you still raised me, gave me a home and were my family and I wanted to thank you for that by becoming the ultimate kung fu master." This was not at all what he had envisioned would happen, he had not expected to feel sadness! He noticed the quiet around them and he blinked away the tears in his eyes and checked the rest of the hall for the eeriness. His eyes made out the broken staff of Oogway, who had doubted them _both_ in refusing him the scroll. His ears twitched irritably and on alert as he tried to find the source of his unease, silence had been a rare treat in his prison but there, in that moment something in his gut told him it was wrong. With a quick glance at Shifu once more, he realised what it was. His laboured breathing had stopped, his ears had relaxed and he was completely motionless. 

His gaze snapped away again in an instant, noticing the scratches of his claws on the pillars around him, the one he had managed to break and how unstable it looked. To the roof where the two holes were, the cracked wall, the broken staff, weapons all around and scorch marks at the door. This had been his home once. Slowly he tried to bring himself to look down at his paw, it was much harder than he thought it should be for once he did he knew there would be no going back and no more pretending, his will not quite ready yet to do so as instead his eyes landed on the petals now still on the surface of the Moon Pool, the dragon statue staring at him in the reflection as dawn broke with a soft gold that made the empty mouth of the statue blatantly obvious to him. With a defeated sigh, he finally looked to Shifu again and carefully freed his paw from under his head. There was blood all over his palm, in his fur and on the visible tips of his claws. He looked at the wounds and injuries he had inflicted, the pain he had put his father through all for nothing. Blood stained his white fur, even his tail seemed tinged with the deep red. What had he done? He had killed the one person that believed in him and that loved him. Now he was truly alone with no mentor for guidance and no comfort to be found from anyone else either.

It took him a few moments but Tai Lung found himself at the edge of the pool before he noticed and dipped his paws into the water, the blood spiralling off them as he washed them clean. Not a heartbeat later and he had moved to use the water in cupped paws to clean the blood off of Shifu too. He deserved that much from him after all the care he had given him before _that day_. He straightened out his ears, gently rolled him onto his back and set his hands folded neatly at his chest. It had been a long time since his paws had been gentle, they had caused such damage, he could have immobilised him, he had not needed to beat and claw him and face such a reality of being truly alone. Shifu did not even look peaceful to him, he tried hard to make him appear as such, all of the blood was gone and he had either corrected or hidden the broken bones as best as he could but a claw mark over his eye, a chunk from his ear and the other not sitting quite right, Shifu did not look at peace, who was he trying to kid? Himself? Whoever might eventually return to the Palace? Shifu even? He thought to find something to cover him with, a shawl or cape would do. He pushed himself up right and looked around the room just as the light from the dawn was blacked out with another breathless and commanding "Hey!" He spun around, half of him hoping it was Shifu but what greeted him in the doorway was a _panda?_

**Author's Note:**

> While I am forever delighted Shifu survived in the film, and the sequels (though I think a true and honourable end should have come at the hands of Kai in KFP3) I thought about this scene the other day and just what an impact it could have had in all of the deeper meanings too. I used to RP as Shifu on tumblr a couple of years ago on ItsShifu, so I am naturally VERY bias about the grumpy little fella and his significance. I have forgotten the log-in to that account, alas, I cannot for the life of me remember the e-mail associated with the account, and it appears as if I might be missing Shifu being around in my head, so he gets a little break onto here.
> 
> I may write more with Shifu, while I do know there is a series that explores his history, I do feel there are a few chapters in me for young Shifu and his life growing up under Oogway, among other things. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed my alternate scene, I promise I am capable of writing happy things too just not very often.


End file.
